Mesh Enthusiast Tips and Tricks

Want to extend range?

For best performance, you should try to attach goTenna Mesh externally to gear and elevate it as much as possible. For instance, attaching goTenna Mesh externally to your backpack is better than placing it anywhere inside your backpack.

Also note that goTenna Mesh is not designed to be used when directly in contact with your body. The reason being that the human body can interfere with radio transmissions, including goTenna Mesh’s signal. Holding goTenna Mesh in your hand or putting in the chest pocket of a thin item of clothing could noticeably decrease your range.

That said, if you want to hold it up for more height, hold it from the strap, avoiding touching the metal and plastic casing. If you put it in your pocket, try to pick a thick clothing material so the device doesn’t make contact with your skin. (P.S. If you don’t care about range in a certain situation, there’s less need to worry about all these tips.)

Point-to-point range depends on your environment, and no situation is exactly the same. That being said, more open terrain often allows for greater range; line-of-sight can also help but is not required. Plus: you may be able to extend your range through other goTenna Mesh devices by relaying!

In general, you can expect up to 4 mi (6.4 km) point-to-point range in open environments such as plains, desert, beach-side, etc. Expect up to 0.5 mi (0.8 km) point-to-point range in congested areas such as cities, mountains, ravines, thick forests, etc. Don’t be surprised if you get a lot less or a lot more than this — it’s quite common to get only a few blocks in very dense urban areas and the current ground-to-peak point-to-point range record for goTenna Mesh is 10 miles. (A skydiver set the open-air range point-to-point record: 26 miles!)

International Relay Node?

Are you traveling with your goTenna Mesh? Awesome! If you're bringing your goTenna Mesh abroad and you intend to setup stationary relay nodes, make sure you pair the goTenna Mesh via the goTenna Native App at least once when you arrive at your destination. This will ensure your goTenna Mesh properly updates to the proper region settings for use. Now you can get to Meshing!

Privacy

Not interested in using your phone number as your goTenna Mesh GID? No problem, when on-boarding your goTenna Mesh within the goTenna App, you can choose to use a random ID instead of your phone number.

This random ID can be used as your contact information for goTenna rather than your phone number. Further, because it doesn't require a verification code, you can skip the verification text step.

On the Account Creation step of on-boarding, tap where it says ‘Phone’.

This will update your goTenna ID to a Random ID.

This will set your GID as a randomized number. You'll now use this as your goTenna Mesh contact information in place of your phone number.

Testing in Airplane Mode?

Awesome! Just make sure you switch your bluetooth and location service back on. These are often disabled when airplane mode is first established, however, location services and bluetooth function while your device is in airplane mode.

goTenna Mesh will need access to your location and bluetooth, so make sure these are turned back on to avoid any odd behavior.